Anyone's dc achieved top grades at GCSE with just textbooks and workbooks?

[jp12122]

Just wondering if it is possible to achieve top grades in GCSE with just textbooks and workbooks/past papers and apps like seneca/GCSE pod? Seems like most dc do notes or flashcards etc so just wondering if it's really necessary? If a dc pays attention in class, is very bright and revises everyday using textbooks and workbooks/past papers, seneca etc, will this be enough?

The key is to revise in the way that suits the student. This will be variable - my three DC revised in very different ways.

A lovely pack of flashcards, created and never used, is not going to help. Flashcards that are used to revise from will help some, but not others.

IME one of the best ways to work us to try to explain a concept to someone else, like a mini teacher. Past papers are useful as you finish the syllabus, but the numbers of them are limited of course due to exam spec changes and then COVID.

So will what your DC is doing be "enough"? We can't say. Ds2 gained what we felt were good grades (not MN standard ) in 2019 exams and i barely saw him use a flashcard. He did better in subjects where he did some work tho as opposed to barely opening the revision guide Eng lit

There’s no need for paid-for resources apart form textbooks, if that’s what you’re asking. Revision will involve more than just reading the book over and over though. Just practising using the limited number of past papers available is also unlikely to be enough. Making some sort of notes, practising the example questions in the textbook, making and self testing with flash cards or by some other means is usually an important part of revision for most teens. It’s what they do with the textbook that really matters and they should try to spend a fair chunk of their revision time working from memory and only checking against the textbook after they’ve tried without it.

Seems like most dc do notes or flashcards

Flashcards = self-testing which is a highly effective way of revising. However it is not the only way to self-test. The online apps also incorporate this.

Simply reading a textbook or workbook isn't a good way of revising, but using the textbook or workbook to answer questions, check answers and improve them is a good way of revising.

I found working with friends through past papers was really effective.
Each child helping the others with their strongest subjects and being helped with the ones they found hardest.

I'll let you know in August...

(Struggling to get DD to do any revision beyond seneca quizzes and working through the odd past paper with friends. Mocks next week...)

None of mine used flashcards/mindmaps. Still 9s and few 8s/A* and few 8s.

What works for one might not works fo someone else. But wasting time making all these cards etc is in my opinion a waste of time, unless you do them well in advance

Mine did nothing and got 7s, 8s and 9s and one six. She was always very engaged in class, she just struggled to do anything alone (AD(H)D probably). Didn't work for A levels though, which she dropped out of.

You could see if you can hire a tutor. Mind maps and flashcards work well too.

Thank you for all the replies.

My DC has always used textbooks (not just reading it obviously but definitely nothing that involves writing), workbooks (and now past papers too) and apps as revision throughout the years and it worked until now, I'm just wondering if for GCSE (just started year 10) DC should be doing more. So far DC is doing extremely well, but it's early days and I wonder if it's enough for next years exams. We have tried flashcards before but it's very time consuming and it wouldn't work for my DC.

Practise of past papers, getting used to the layout of the papers, the timing of the papers, the timing allocated to each "mark", the type of questions asked is one of the best methods to achieve higher grades at gcse level (and A level). School will usually set these as they progress through their gcse courses and use questions from papers for homework and mocks. (or write their own similar questions).

However attempting a whole paper within the set time limit is always a good way to ensure that they can write to the correct level within the time limits for the paper. Mark schemes are also available so that they can check they are on the right track.

For gcse, I would study the chapters and find topical qns from revision papers.

In relation to past papers, most subjects have 2 sets of specimen papers and for non eng/maths there are the 2018 and 2019 papers. If you look hard enough the 2020 papers are somewhere on the internet.

Next year the autumn 2021 papers will be available

For some, the act of writing and making flashcards is what fixes it in their minds. Otherwise there could be a disconnect between what they have seen on a screen or page compared to what they need to write.

I usually forget to pick up my shopping list - but I remember what's on it. DP needs a written list in front of him. On his phone, he'll just overlook half of it because he's focused on his phone and not the giant shelves teeming with boxes of teabags in front of him.

For math, there is a lot which you can do.

Corbettmaths have lots of five a day questions for all abilities and ages, I recommend you start there. Also you can order a few different cheap math workbooks off Amazon etc to use as part of your revision.
Math Genie have a lot of grade specific papers that you can print out and do at home. You can adapt questions from some old past papers too. Resourceholic is another good source of information and advice, it is a blog about math worth looking at. Oral timed quizzes are also a brilliant way in order to retain the information taught at school.

DD1 just used the school textbook. Her lowest grade was a B.

DD2 used some flash cards for Physics because she found it tough, standard resources for everything else. Her lowest grade was a 6.

They both attended the groups the school laid on outside of school hours, but not during the holidays and in a very targeted way - DD2 focused on maths, which she found hard (it earned her a solid 7) and DD1 targeted nailing English, which she wanted at A level, and got 8/8.

So it can be done without extraordinary measures.

Well I can tell you that dc2 never did any flash cards at all.
Not even sure about notes. He seems more comfortable just doing passed papers.

He did get top grades (mostly 8 and 9 bar English litterature…..)

I'm amazed at schools that have text books..... Here's it's just power point presentations, notes in books and the occasional A4 sheet.

@TravelLost

Well I can tell you that dc2 never did any flash cards at all. Not even sure about notes. He seems more comfortable just doing passed papers.

He did get top grades (mostly 8 and 9 bar English litterature…..)

I like your style. So did mine

In addition to textbooks and workbooks, there are lots of things available either free or as part of what you pay for when you get a TV licence (Iplayer) or Amazon Prime/Netflix etc. For example DS1 has Macbeth and An Inspector Calls on his GCSE syllabus, and plays were written to be watched as well as read. I didn't do English Lit and O level but I did at A level and I listened to the Shakespeare plays repeatedly on tape. Now, I could get hold of the novel too in audio, and hopefully some film or spoken word version of the Arthur Miller plays, not sure about the 3 poetry texts but there must be something.

I'm sure there's also loads of material for other subjects. It's just finding the good bits.

Mine did do some notes on little cards but the vast majority of his revision for both gcse and A level was past papers, he had massive piles of them and would do them repeatedly on rotation until he was getting 100%. It worked well for him but as PP have said, they are all different.

Mine did just textbooks and lesson notes, I did try to get her interested in flash cards and mind maps but she was having none of it. All 8s and 9s.

Dd likes to make flash cards as it is an ‘active’ revision process.
Ds favoured past papers as a revision method. He found that similar questions regularly appeared and also had a good understanding of how marks were allocated eg often marks available for stating (what he regarded) as the obvious.

I always found flash card construction, mindmaps a waste of time for my children. One was a high performer, and one wasn’t. I trawled the internet for topical exam qns for their subjects boards. They attempted those and got 8/9s and GCSEs. Practice topical past qns - that’s my suggestion.

My daughter pretty much did this: textbook questions, past paper questions and wrote her own notes 7 A* and 3 A.

Every child is different and different methods work better for some than others. It’s more important to find the way that sticks rather than do it because it works for others.
Ds is dyslexic with memory processing issues and flash cards and note rewriting are useless for him. 7’s and 8’s achieved but all through repetitive use of what he’d learned. Verbally re-explaining, playing with topics and making links across topics, applying knowledge in questions in different ways, just finding ways to embed the information so he had different ways to recall it. Exam technique also critical, so lots of topic questions and past papers.

Yes, we have a pretty analogue house and all has been good.

Plus there is research showing people absorb more from a physical book thanfrom reading on screen.

It is the effort put in that makes the difference, and how they revise.